Health & HIV/AIDS

Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report: Editorials Address Need for Assistance

Editorials Address Need for Assistance from Developed World to Fight

2001-03-26, Issue 15

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/hivaids/136

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Several newspaper editorials this week have addressed the price reductions and patent relaxations on AIDS drugs by Merck & Co. and Bristol-Myers Squibb, as well as the need for developed nations of the world to offer more humanitarian aid to African nations in order to assure the purchase, distribution andmonitoring of such drugs.

Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report: Editorials Address Need for Assistance
Editorials Address Need for Assistance from Developed World to Fight
AIDS in Africa


Several newspaper editorials this week have addressed the price re-
ductions and patent relaxations on AIDS drugs by Merck & Co. and
Bristol-Myers Squibb, as well as the need for developed nations of
the world to offer more humanitarian aid to African nations in order
to assure the purchase, distribution and monitoring of such drugs.
Excerpts of several of the editorials follow:


* Philadelphia Inquirer:
"[T]he world community (with the United States leading the way) must
bring other weapons [in the fight against AIDS] to bear: money and
expertise," a Philadelphia Inquirer editorial states. The "maddening
aspect" of the current situation is that the drug discounts recently
offered are "still beyond the reach of impoverished African govern-
ments and individuals," the editorial continues, adding that what is
needed now is money to fund the purchase of the drugs in order to
stem the "humanitarian crisis" in Africa. The editorial calls on
President Bush to allocate more money for the issue when he presents
his federal budget proposal next month. The budget "ought to reflect
Americans' humane and generous spirit," the editorial continues. The
budget "ought to be bold in dedicating additional foreign aid to buy-
ing AIDS drugs and developing health care systems that can administer
them," the editorial concludes (Philadelphia Inquirer, 3/21).


* Boston Globe:
"[T]he solid front of pharmaceutical companies against allowing
cheap, generic versions of their AIDS drugs into Africa is cracking.
This is a welcome development, but genuine hope ... requires more
help from industrialized countries and a greater leadership role by
local governments," an editorial in the Boston Globe states. The edi-
torial singles out Brazil as an example of how the use of low-cost
generic drugs works to save money and reduce the death rate from
AIDS-related complications. Brazil has benefitted not only from its
better economic status and its ability to create or buy generic
drugs, but also from the "crucial" leadership of its current leader
and his predecessor, the editorial states. For Africa to have the
same success, it needs "financial assistance" from the industrialized
world. Donors should also "require" recipients to establish protocols
to "ensure" that the drugs are properly distributed and administered.
With such an effort, the "world finally has a chance to curb the epi-
demic in Africa," the editorial concludes (Boston Globe, 3/22).


* Providence Journal:
"AIDS is a special case," a Providence Journal editorial states, add-
ing that the disease's "devastation demands a broad humanitarian re-
sponse." And although drug discounts and cheaper generic drug offer-
ings sound "very promising," the lower prices are "still beyond the
means of most Africans." Therefore, financial support from govern-
ments, donors and charities is "essential" to buy drugs and train
people how to use them. Otherwise, the crisis some have labeled "an
international health scandal ... [equivalent to] mass murder" will
continue, the editorial concludes (Providence Journal, 3/22).


* Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
AIDS is "not just a humanitarian disaster, nor is it an African prob-
lem alone," an editorial in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel states.
According to a January 2000 National Intelligence Estimate, AIDS and
other infectious diseases "will complicate U.S. and global security
over the next 20 years. These diseases will endanger U.S. citizens at
home and abroad, threaten U.S. armed forces deployed overseas and ex-
acerbate social and political instability in key countries and re-
gions in which the United States has significant interests." Based on
this information, "[f]or reasons of self-interest, as well as for
compelling moral ones, the United States and other countries should
pitch in and help," the editorial concludes (Milwaukee Journal Senti-
nel, 3/18).


* New Haven Register:
"The rest of the world has largely stood by as AIDS has decimated Af-
rican nations," a New Haven Register editorial states, adding, "But
the immediacy of Africa's plight was brought home recently because of
drug companies' refusal to yield patent rights on AIDS drugs." The
editorial continues, "The scope of poverty and government dysfunction
in Africa is so vast that even humanitarian acts like [the recent
discounts] of Bristol-Myers and Merck will have little impact." Advo-
cacy groups and charities must continue to "turn the spotlight of
public attention" on AIDS, as a group of Yale University law students
and Doctors Without Borders have done. Otherwise, a "generation in
Africa is doomed," the editorial concludes (New Haven Register,
3/21).



--
The Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report is published for kaisernetwork.org,
a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, by National
Journal Group Inc. c 2001 by National Journal Group Inc. and Kaiser
Family Foundation. All rights reserved.
Cecilia Snyder
<csnyder@ccmc.org>

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